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Asian Finance Bank
(AFB) is looking to expand loans to the maritime industry,
particularly in the oil and gas (O&G) sector, as it sees
“potential growth” in the maritime industry, said chief executive
officer Datuk Mohamed Azahari Kamil.
There had also been a lack of funding to the industry, he noted.
“Thus, AFB will do its best to provide accessibility to financing
for the industry when it is needed most.
“On the upside, there has been strong demand for marine fuel and
the potential growth of the maritime industry is inextricably tied
to the O&G sector,” he told reporters after the signing ceremony
with Onsys Energy Sdn Bhd for a RM50mil term loan for the purchase
of two product tankers scheduled to be delivered in three days.
The amount accounts for half the cost of the two tankers.
Mohamed Azahari said the the term loan for Onsys Energy marked the
first time AFB had ventured into financing the acquisition of
vessels.
“Via only 50% financing from AFB, Onsys is in healthy gearing
position against the industry average that often (accounts for up)
to 80% to 90% bank borrowings to finance their acquisition.
Valuations of vessels are quite tricky, but for the O&G industry,
it is not that badly affected by the downturn,” he said.
Onsys Energy, which currently owns five vessels, provides
bunkering services mainly in Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Pasir Gudang
and Singapore.
It will also take delivery of another four chemical tankers by
March next year.
On the RM1bil Safeena Islamic Marine Fund which is jointly managed
by AmanahRaya Investment Bank Ltd in Labuan, Mohamed Azahari said
they had identified and evaluated two vessels, with one vessel
valued at US$25mil, to be injected into the fund by the middle of
next month.
The fund provides a sale and leaseback arrangement whereby the
fund will own the vessel and lease it back to the vendors on a
medium to long term contract.
Commenting on the “mega” Islamic bank project, Mohamed Azahari
said AFB was not applying for the licence concerned. “We are
interested but not at this moment,” he said.
Bank Negara had said it would issue two new licences to large
foreign Islamic banks this year to undertake international
business operations as part of its efforts to boost Malaysia’s
standing as an international Islamic financial hub. |
